MATARAM, Indonesia – An Indonesian court has sentenced a Frenchman to death for smuggling 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of drugs in a suitcase to the tourist island of Lombok.
Presiding Judge Isnurul Syamsul Arif ruled in Mataram District Court on Monday that Felix Dorfin had weakened the government's drug prevention program.
Prosecutors had sought a 20-year prison sentence for Dorfin, who was arrested last September at Lombok's airport when customs officers discovered methylenedioxy methamphetamine worth $220,600 and 22 ecstasy pills.
He escaped from a police detention center in January for 10 days before he was recaptured.
Dorfin's lawyer said he would appeal.
Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and sometimes executes convicted smugglers.
More than 150 people are currently on death row, mostly for drug crimes. About one-third of them are foreigners.